FSI's research on the origins, character and consequences of government institutions spans continents and academic disciplines. The institute’s senior fellows and their colleagues across Stanford examine the principles of public administration and implementation. Their work focuses on how maternal health care is delivered in rural China, how public action can create wealth and eliminate poverty, and why U.S. immigration reform keeps stalling.
FSI’s work includes comparative studies of how institutions help resolve policy and societal issues. Scholars aim to clearly define and make sense of the rule of law, examining how it is invoked and applied around the world.
FSI researchers also investigate government services – trying to understand and measure how they work, whom they serve and how good they are. They assess energy services aimed at helping the poorest people around the world and explore public opinion on torture policies. The Children in Crisis project addresses how child health interventions interact with political reform. Specific research on governance, organizations and security capitalizes on FSI's longstanding interests and looks at how governance and organizational issues affect a nation’s ability to address security and international cooperation.
This module addresses the challenges faced by public sector leaders as they foster economic growth in politically charged environments. Offered in partnership with the Leadership Academy for Development (LAD) at Stanford University and Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, it uses case studies (mostly drawn from Asia) on how public policy can help the private sector be a constructive force for economic growth and development. A driving principle of the LAD module is that policy reform is not like engineering or other technical fields that have discrete skills and clear, optimal solutions. Instead, successful reformers must be politically aware and weigh a broad range of factors that influence policy outcomes. They must have a solid grasp of country-specific economic, financial, political and cultural realities. Most importantly, they must have a sense of how to set priorities, sequence actions and build coalitions. LAD provides participants with an analytical framework to build these leadership abilities and operate effectively under adverse conditions.
The Leadership Academy for Development (LAD) is an innovative program at Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law that trains mid-level government officials and business leaders to be more effective in promoting policy changes in developing countries.
In order to accomplish this goal, LAD teaches weeklong courses with partner institutions located in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Former Soviet Union. The most recent workshop was held in Tbilisi, Georgia in partnership with a leading Georgian think tank.
LAD’s programs attract leaders from the private and public sector who are driving public policy in countries that are transitioning to democracy and strengthening their public institutions. Since LAD’s launch in 2010, the Program has trained over 400 students hailing from nations as diverse as Timor-Leste, Zimbabwe, and the United Kingdom.
The LAD teaching team is composed of faculty from Stanford, Johns Hopkins’s School of Advanced International Studies, Georgetown University, and Texas A&M.
At the core of LAD’s curriculum is a set of case studies that encourage students to think critically about the best methods for solving a policy problem. LAD’s case studies are developed by Stanford faculty and students, and are grounded in real-world scenarios drawn from many of the countries where the program is taught. Case studies reframe policy problems based on various scenarios that invite students to contribute their own perspectives and experience.
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As described by LAD co-founder and CDDRL Director Francis Fukuyama, "The Leadership Academy for Development is unique in that by utilizing the case study method, it provides students with a hands-on, interactive framework for problem solving.” Fukuyama continued, “Students must put themselves in the shoes of the case study's protagonist and then devise a solution to the dilemma presented in the text."
Case study authors are sent to the field where they conduct original interviews and research topics ranging from the funding of a vaccination program in Bangladesh to the challenge of administrative decentralization in Peru. To date, LAD has grown its case study library to over 20 cases that are publically available online for wider use and dissemination.
Michael Goldfien, an alumnus of Stanford’s International Policy Studies master’s program, researched and wrote three case studies for LAD over the course of a year.
“While I was writing a case about wine export promotion in the Republic of Georgia, speaking with current and former government officials helped put the challenges facing the Georgian wine industry in a broader domestic and international political context, said Goldfien.”
Goldfien continued, “Researching and writing a LAD case study is about more than simply establishing the facts of a specific policy initiative, it’s about putting things in context and mapping out the constellation of stakeholders who stand to gain or lose from a particular reform to understand the political landscape that a would-be reformer must navigate to effect change.”
One of LAD’s more commonly employed case studies is Gifford Pinchot and Sustainable Forest Management, which introduces the student to Gifford Pinchot, who served as the chief forester in the US at the turn of
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the 20th century. Grounded in the political history during this period, Pinchot faces the moral dilemma of whether he should expose the corrupt political patronage practices reaching all the way up to the office of President Taft, or keep his job and continue to fight for the relevance of the fledgling U.S. Forest Bureau. This case study exposes students to pivotal leadership decisions that they may have to face in their own professional careers.
Farai Maguwu, a prominent civil society leader in Zimbabwe who participated in the LAD workshop in Kenya last year summarized his experience, “The case study method was very effective as it made it easy for us to understand that Public-Private Partnerships (PPP’s) are a viable option if there is political will.” Maguwu continued, “For instance, we saw evidence of PPP in practice in one particular case that clearly demonstrated how the private sector could make a public park both beautiful and profitable.”
To learn more about the LAD program and access the case study library, please click here.
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CDDRL Director Francis Fukuyama leads a lecture during the Leadership Academy for Development workshop in Tblisi, Georgia. January 2016.
As part of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy speaker series, Director of The Markaz: Resource Center Mona Damluji examined the impact of the US-led occupation of Iraq on sectarian-based urban segregation in Baghdad. In a talk held on February 3, 2016, she argued that the sectarian-based segregation that has shaped urbanism in Baghdad is a direct outcome of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq. The "post"-occupied city is characterized by the normalization of concrete “security” blast-walls that choke urban circulation and sever communities. The notorious blast walls -- or "Bremer Walls" -- perpetuate and intensify conditions of urban segregation. As the summer's surge of anti-government protests in Baghdad demonstrate, the short-sighted nature of this militarized solution to sectarian-based violence has proven to be a superficial and unsustainable fix to the deep dilemma of sectarian segregation codified in Iraq’s political system. The presentation also examined the context for recent public dissent on the streets of Baghdad through the story of the capital city's fragmentation between 2006 and 2007.
Under Secretary Sewall will deliver remarks on Countering Violent Extremism, the U.S. Government’s comprehensive approach for preventing the spread of ISIL and emergence of new terrorist threats. The Under Secretary will describe how the evolution of violent extremism since the 9/11 attacks necessitates a “whole of society” approach to prevent people from aligning with terrorist movements and ideologies in the first place. Drawing on recent travel to Indonesia, India, and Egypt, the Under Secretary will describe the vital role of actors outside government in this approach, including women, youth, religious leaders, businesses, and researchers. She will also elaborate on new steps the U.S. Government is taking to intensify its CVE efforts around the world. The Under Secretary will also take questions from the audience.
Speaker bio
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Dr. Sarah Sewall is the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at the U.S. State Department, and is a longtime advocate for advancing civilian security and human rights around the world. Dr. Sewall was sworn in on February 20, 2014. She serves concurrently as the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues. Over the previous decade, Dr. Sewall taught at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she served as Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and directed the Program on National Security and Human Rights.
Dr. Sewall has extensive experience partnering with the U.S. armed forces around civilian security. At the Kennedy School, she launched the MARO (Mass Atrocities Response Operations Project) to assist the U.S. military with contingency planning to protect civilians from large-scale violence. She was a member of the Defense Policy Board and served as the Minerva Chair at the Naval War College in 2012. She also led several research studies of U.S. military operations for the Department of Defense and served as the inaugural Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance in the Clinton Administration. Prior joining the executive branch, Dr. Sewall served for six years as the Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to U.S. Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell and earned a Ph.D at Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
This event is co-sponsored by Stanford in Government and CISAC.
On Wednesday, February 17, The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford, The Center for International Governance Innovation, and the Research Advisory Network of the Global Commission on Internet Governance will present an all-day conference entitled "New Alliances in Cybersecurity, Human Rights and Internet Governance." The conference will discuss the challenges of creating a regime of internet governance that pays attention to security and human rights in the digital context.
Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister & Foreign Minister of Sweden, and Chair of the Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG) and Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz are the scheduled keynote speakers. Other speakers for the event include Michael McFaul (Director FSI), Eileen Donahoe (Human Rights Watch/FSI), Sir David Omand (former Director, GCHQ, UK), Michael Chertoff (former Secretary of Homeland Security, USA) and Marietje Schaake (Member of the European Parliament.)
Admission will be closed at 120 guests - only those who have sent an rsvp will be admitted.
Stanford’s Program on Social Entrepreneurship welcomes four social entrepreneurs to campus this year to engage students and the Stanford community with leaders in the social sector. The four will serve as Social Entrepreneurs in Residence at Stanford (SEERS) Fellows at the Haas Center for Public Service through June, and will be teaching a service-learning course (IR142) in the spring quarter.
The SEERS Fellows lead organizations using entrepreneurial models to advance social justice and pioneer new approaches to public service delivery for marginalized communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and internationally. They have all been recognized for their path-breaking work in the field of social entrepreneurship with awards and prestigious fellowships for their contributions to their sector.
The 2016 cohort will join 15 other SEERS alumni who have been part of the program since its launch in 2011.
Hip Hop Therapy Goes Global
CDDRL Associate Director Sarina Beges poses with Tomas Alvarez at Beats Rhymes and Life’s Oakland headquarters
Trained as a social worker, Tomás Alvarez quickly realized that there was little diversity amongst clinicians in the field, which created a cultural mismatch and barrier to those accessing services. He set off to transform mental health service delivery for communities of color by pioneering “Hip Hop Therapy,” which uses the art of creating rap music to connect to troubled teens. In 2011, Alvarez launched Beats Rhymes and Life (BRL) in Oakland, California to offer trainings to local schools and mental health providers to share their culturally responsive approach to working with marginalized youth. In January, Alvarez stepped down from his role as executive director of BRL to launch a new platform to connect Hip Hop Therapy providers across the globe to each other and the resources they need to grow and sustain their models.
Photo Caption: The program's co-founder Sarina Beges poses with Tomás Alvarez (right) at Beats Rhymes and Life’s Oakland headquarters.
From Farm to Firm to Family: Advancing the Food Justice Movement
Jered Lawson is making food systems change and reform a reality through his work as the co-founder of Pie Ranch, a farm located along Northern California’s coastline. Pie Ranch’s mission is not just to grow delicious and organic agriculture, but to educate, train, and form regional partnerships to realize their vision of cultivating a just food system. Lawson leads many of their education programs, which bring Bay Area high school students to farm the land, learn more about locally grown food, and maybe even inspire a new generation of farmers. Lawson has worked with local government and community organizations on policy reform to secure more land for small farming. He has also partnered with Silicon Valley technology firms – and Stanford Dining – to provide sustainably grown and sourced food for employees and students to enjoy.
Rajasvini (Vini) Bhansali brings an international lens to the SEERS program this year as the executive director of the International Development Exchange (IDEX), an organization based in San Francisco, California that works globally in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Growing up in Rajasthan, India, Vini developed a strong sense of social justice from an early age and has translated that wisdom into her work at IDEX. The organization provides flexible funding to local organizations led by women, youth, and indigenous leaders with innovative solutions based on local knowledge and customs. Vini has helped lead IDEX’s work to challenge traditional patterns of philanthropy and international development that favor top-down externally driven solutions to local problems.
Josefina Alvarado-Mena is the 2016 Echoing Green-SEERS Fellow, her fellowship made possible through a partnership with Echoing Green, an organization that funds early-stage social entrepreneurs. Each year, Echoing Green selects a member of their alumni community to participate in the SEERS fellowship. Mena, a 1996 Echoing Green fellow, is the executive director of Safe Passages, an organization based in Oakland, California that works to create a better future for Oakland’s children and youth. Through an integrated model that works with children and their families from the cradle through adulthood, Safe Passages helps to interrupt the cycle of poverty and put children on a track towards college and career. Their innovative programs provide early childhood education to new parents, work with schools to integrate education and social services, provide career development opportunities for youth, and build strong family partnerships with community members.
Stanford students will have the opportunity to work on service learning-based projects with SEERS fellows through a course (INTNLREL 142) offered in the spring quarter. Service-learning allows students to gain experience working alongside non-profit leaders to tackle real organizational challenges. From designing new policy reform to developing fundraising strategies, students come away from the experience with new insight into the field of social change and concrete skills.
The SEERS fellows will be on campus through June to teach the service-learning course, participate in events, and engage with student groups. To learn more about the Program on Social Entrepreneurship visit (pse.stanford.edu) or to connect with the SEERS Fellows, please contact Sarina Beges (sbeges@stanford.edu).
Beatriz Magaloni, director of CDDRL's Program on Poverty and Governance (PovGov), and Zaira Razu, a research associate and project manager at PovGov, recently released a piece in Current History on Mexico's ongoing drug war and the rise of violence. Although democratic structures have helped improve certain freedoms throughout the country in the past decade, institutionalized injustice is slowly jeopardizing stability and security for much of the Mexican population.
To mark five years since the onset of the January 25 Revolution, five Egypt scholars examined the evolving political landscape in Egypt as part of a panel titled “The Containment of Politics in Egypt,” organized by the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy (ARD). The panel featured Stanford Historian Joel Beinin, Associate Professor of Political Science at Stanford Lisa Blaydes, ARD Visiting Scholar Amr Hamzawy, Executive Director of the Tahrir Institute on Middle East Policy Nancy Okail, and ARD Associate Director Hesham Sallam. The discussion revolved around a number of key issues, including the recent legislative elections, the cohesion of the ruling coalition, the regime’s responses to various economic challenges, and the impact of state repression on spaces for political contestation and resistance.
